


Just Like Everybody Else Does

by Catclaw



Series: Dirty Little Secret [5]
Category: Highlander: The Series
Genre: Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-09-11
Updated: 2006-09-11
Packaged: 2018-09-13 05:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9108694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catclaw/pseuds/Catclaw
Summary: Based on the 'secrets' in the All American Reject's video for Dirty Little Secrets.This secret: I hate feeling alone.Can be (and in fact should be) read as a stand alone.





	

_So you go, and you stand on your own. And you leave on your own. And you go home, and you cry, and you want to die… I am human, and I need to be loved Just like everybody else does_  
\- The Smith’s, How Soon is Now?

An Immortal’s life is a life of loss. There are thousands upon thousands of scars upon my soul that I know will haunt me forever like the barely healed wounds left on my heart by those that I’ve loved and lost. The ones who left me alone. But in a way, their leaving was completely understandable and it’s the price that I pay for getting involved with Mortals. Either they die or are unable to accept what I am.

But the truth is, that despite all these years I’ve spent by myself, I hate feeling alone. I know it will seem strange to those who know me, know who I truly am, as for centuries it seemed that alone was the way that I preferred to be. And, indeed, it is the safest way to be, the best way to survive. It’s what I am after all, a survivor.

A feeling of sick rises in my throat as I remember who the last Immortal was that told me that. As my past once again came to haunt me. I’d promised myself that that time I’d tell Duncan the truth and then I would never have to spend another day of eternity alone, or so I had hoped.

Part of me had always known that he wouldn’t be able to accept that piece of my history, just like I knew that if he ever found out it would blind him to the man that I’ve become today. You gotta love and man and his morals. And that’s the trouble, I do.

Despite how hard I tried to convince myself otherwise I fell in love with the stubborn Immortal. I know that it’s not clever, that a pair of Immortals make a bigger target than one, that it would mean one hell of a commitment to promise another of our kind forever. But I was ready. And I foolishly allowed myself to hope that I wouldn’t have to be alone any longer.

I was wrong. And thanks to my past actions, a past that I’m not proud of, I condemned myself to spending the rest of my days without the man I love. To spend eternity alone.

Or so I thought. I was sitting in the corner of a seedy bar, just observing the human life that surrounded me when I sensed the quickening signature of another. Not bothering to cast my eyes around the place to see who it was, I stood and hastily made my way into the alley behind the bar, intent on escape.

But obviously, that had been what he was counting on as he was leaning against the wall, waiting for me at the exit to the alley. Closing my eyes briefly, I sighed, not bothering to question how he knew I was there.

“I’ve been a fool.” I blink, not expecting him to say that, let alone for it to be the first thing that he says to me. I fold my arms and cock my head to the side, waiting for him to finish whatever it is that he’s started. “I know now that you can’t view the past with the ideals of today. The past was a different world with different customs and attitudes and beliefs. So you can’t judge a man of the past, or indeed a man upon his past or allow it to colour your view of the man that he is today. A good man.” He pauses looking down at his shoes, seemingly unsure of what to do next. Which added to my suspicion that a lot of what he’d just said was the result of many a talk with Joe. But his apparent willingness to look beyond my past sparked a hope within me. He sighs obviously frustrated as he looks at me and I smile at him and motion back to the bar, to which he nods.

We sit together, in the space I had recently vacated, in silence. Each lost within his own thoughts. For my part, I want to know what he’s doing here. Why now. What he could possibly hope to achieve from this. And whether we can ever rebuild our friendship. But, like my companion, I don’t say anything that I’m thinking. Instead we order more alcohol and become progressively drunker.

Duncan nudges my knee,  
“I missed you Old Man,” he says with the type of comical seriousness that only a drunk person can manage.  
“Missed you too.” I smile, knowing that I’m in no better state than he is. He grins at me,  
“Missed you more,” I can’t help it, I roll my eyes at the childish absurdity that the whisky has brought out in Duncan.  
“No, I missed you more,” my eyes widen in horror, where the fuck had that come from? Wasn’t I just mocking Duncan for his immaturity? He shakes his head at me,  
“Not possible. Want to know why?” Against my better judgement, I agree. “’Cause I love you.” My breath catches in my throat, and I pray that he means that and it’s not just something he’ll blame on the alcohol in the morning.

****

I can feel the sunlight hitting my face and curse quietly, sticking my head beneath the sheets in an attempt to avoid the coming day. I feel a shifting next to me and my eyes fly open in shock. Memories of the night before flood back and I shake my head, trying to get my mind working, and immediately regret it when it painfully reminds me just how much I drank.

He watches me the entire time and, seeing my wince at the pain in my head, pulls me close to him. I smile as he presses a kiss to my temple and suddenly all is right in my world as I know without a doubt that I’ll never have to spend another moment alone.


End file.
